Do you only express-breast feed your baby?

[Dozeyland]

maybe because of you circumstances or just because you do, how do you get on?

Hi, saw this thread earlier but couldn't post then. When my DD was born two years ago she wouldn't latch on so I fed her with expressed milk for 8 weeks. After 6 weeks, I couldn't express enough milk for her so we started to give her formula as well and after 8 weeks my supply disappeared entirely so we switched entirely to formula. I did struggle with it tbh, it was exhausting because I had to express all the time. I'm very glad I did it though, and gave her at least a reasonable start. Switching to formula made me really miserable at the time but I don't think there was anything else I could have done (we did seek and receive a lot of support but nothing really helped). DS feeds like a dream though!

I have met someone who expressed all her daughter's feeds for 10 months which is amazing.

Hope this helps, wasn't sure what you were after but didn't want thread to go unanswered :)

I had to give DD expressed feeds because I developed thrush and it was like feeding a piranha if I breast fed her. After treatment I went back to breast feeding. I have read that if you express all the time instead of breast feed directly it affects your milk supply.

I did it for 1 month with my second baby, due to baby not latching on (and god did I try to get her on). Gave up when started to go out of my mind with sterilising the pump each time I expressed. Was led to believe by the MW that my supply would naturally deplete since the baby was not stimulating the nipple anyway. I used a hospital grade double pump which was fab.

i don't, but i know someone who did, for a year

I (and she!) would tell you that while it's possible it's VERY, VERY hard work
a breastpump is not as efficient as a baby, so you need to express more than a baby would have to feed to get enough milk

my friend, at 12 months, was still having to express at least 3 hourly, and during the night, to make enough milk. this makes it really difficult to go out any do anything

as well as expressing you've got bottles to clean and prepare. plus actually feeding them to the baby, so it's far more time consuming than feeding direct from breast.

it's difficult to replicate a babies feeding pattern during growth spurts. when your baby gets hungrier you will have to express even more frequently to boost your supply.

at around 4 months your prolactin levels drop naturally. when a baby is suckling your supply keeps up, but it can be difficult to maintain if you are pumping.
the friend I mentioned had to take domperidoe from around 6 months to keep her supply up. domperidone has risks of its own including (off the top of my head) heart problems

I know this all sounds really negative, but i just wanted you to know that it really isn't an easy option feeding-wise, and although people do it it isn't usual that they will be able or willing to do it long-term

I think you'll find that most people who exclusively express will tell you that they would muych rather feed direct from breast because it's SOOOOO much easier!

I did it for 4 months - and ended u with a stash in the freezer which made enough milk for 6 months, which covered weaning foods too

And...controversially...I plan to do it again.

For me, it was just a damn sight easier (the hardest part for me was arguing with others that it couldn't possibly be).

Ds was a very very big boy and initially he was on the boob for HOURS with no let up and still starving. It was really rough going.
I had emcs, was sore, knackered and really needed a chill out, plus dh had only a week off work, so I started expressing so I could get some sleep. And never looked back.

I got loads and loads of milk - I mean tons. I found bags of it in the freezer before we moved house that I had forgotten were there.

Maybe I was lucky, but it completely worked for me. DH was very involved (he would feed ds while I pumped during the night), or I would pump straight after feeding.
It meant I could do things like catch up on much needed sleep (which aided my recovery), dh and I got some much needed time out together, grandparents/cousins/friends etc could feed ds (nothing nicer than feeding a baby), we knew how much he ate, he got a good routine going from early and slept through the night at a young age....

Like I say, perhaps we were just lucky, but it worked for us.

We got zip support for doing this from midwives who reckoned we were just 'making ore work for ourselves' and yes, I cracked up about it a few times - was made to feel like a poor mother for doing it this way. In the end my mum had to remind me that he was my baby and I was the one who had to do it, not them, and if it worked for me, then bugger them!!

This time I am not going to feel guilty about it.
I shall be expressing with pride!!

Oh and I started with a Tommee Tippee handpump and treated myself to a Medela swing after a month. Which was the business!!
Lots of milk, little hassle!

Having done both I found it a lot easier to feed DD directly rather than faff around with sterilising bottles etc. You were incredibly lucky that you managed to produce so much milk.

I did with DD1. Well, I fed her occasionally from the breast in the first few months but it made her rather miserable - due to severe reflux it was easier if I expressed and we could add her reflux meds to that.

I expressed til DD1 was 14 months old. My supply did not, as everyone predicted, fail. I expressed frequently at the beginning but by the time DD1 was about 4 months old I was able to move to 3 expression sessions per day (got 30oz i.e. 5oz from each breast each time). When DD1 was 9 months old I moved to two expression sessions per day (got about 24oz i.e. 6oz from each breast each time). At 12 months I dropped to 1 session per day (was by this point pregnant with DD2) and got about 12-14oz per day.

People thought I was mad. I wasn't - once I fitted expression into my routine, it was slightly inconvenient but nothing more, and I felt that it was (for me) a small sacrifice for her to have all the benefits of BM. I used a Medela Symphony (hired from medela - cost a lot less than a month of formula). My body learned to respond to the pump after a while and would actually let down at the sound of it .

Whilst I appreciate that I was also lucky to be able to produce this milk supply using a pump, I'm friends with a group of mums in the US and most have had to do a lot of expression very early on as they got only a few weeks' maternity leave. All of them have combined expression and feeding from the breast, and a couple now purely express and have done for months (which makes me feel a bit less mad). All my British friends did, and still do, think I was silly for doing it. I don't tend to mention that I express about 10oz milk for DD1 (2 years) each day, although I am feeding DD2 from the breast this time (has bottles - unwillingly - when I'm at work.

Sorry, that was a really long answer. But long term milk expression really can work for some people - my number one tip would be use a good pump and use it at consistent times of the day.

threelittleducks amazing!

Would you consider milk donation to preemies?

www.ukamb.org

I've heard loads of successful stories. Sorry can't find a link, but I have seen threads in the past, so you could try a search.

I don't express full time. But now I'm at work before she was really really fussy so expressed a lot then. Luckily she fed in the night off me.

For a while, a pump in the night will most likely be required as this can be key for milk production.

organiccarrotcake I would love to.
If I get so much this time (fingers crossed) I would most definitely. There's no milk bank close to me on the web link, but will most def. speak to hospital about it when I go.

I know I was lucky to get so much last time - but maybe it worked because I just did it IYSWIM? I didn't panic or fret that milk wouldn't be there, it just always was. I kept up a good routine, pumped every time I felt the need (I could feel the milk coming from a patch on my back that kind of went a bit numb before the milk came - odd sensation :/ ) I treated it like bf in a way.
I agree with FrozenNorth - there is a lot of stigma around it, which is wrong. Yeah ok, bf is easier (if you find it so) and there is less faff with sterilising bottles etc, but it's the effort you make for your baby and if it works for you, then bugger it, it works for you!

There is so much pressure, I find, to bf and to do it right and do it wherever you can and quite rightly, a lot of support in place to support it.
EBF is the same thing - same food, different way of feeding it.
It's not the 1st choice for many (probably more sane) people, but each to their own. And anyone who chooses to do it should be supported in that choice, rather than poo-pooed as I was.

I didn't, honestly, find it any more hard work than washing a few bottles and sterilising the equipment. There's not loads of equipment. I'm not sterilising molecule by molecule - the sterlising fluid does this for me after I give things a wash (which took 10 - 15 mins tops). 15 mins in the fluid and you are sterile and ready to go again. The baby sleeps for a good hour or so at a time -plenty of time to do this and have a nap/express/eat/watch t.v. Honest.

But then I know I am lucky. I know I know I know not everyone will find it easy. Just making myself feel better (and still, oddly, justifying the choice to do it this time - preparing my arguements as will be emotionally and physically drained when have to argue my case to midwives this time round)

AH....!!

Finding this quite therapeutic. I know nobody else who expressed like I did in rl - they all bf for a month and then switched to formula. So they all think I'm mental anyway.

Thanks for the ranting opportunity

ThreeLittleDucks - as a second timer the midwives should (hopefully) be less inclined to argue. Repeating the same polite phrase e.g. "Thank you for your opinion. I have made the right feeding choice for me and my family. I would like you to respect this choice" might help. I remember a massive argument with a doctor who refused to write 'breastfeeding' in DD1's red book because I wasn't 'really' doing it.

What times of the day did you express??

At the beginning or further on?

Due to severe pAin feeding ds who's now 2.5 wks old I have been expressing 8 times a day.

Upsides:
baby gets breast milk for half his feeds (I only ever get 2-3 oz total from each session usingdouble hospital grade pump which is very good)
good for me in terms of hormones and losing baby weight (it has come off faster than with dd when I halfheartly expressed)

downsides:
exhausting when you don't have much support ie a dh who sleeps on the couch gets full nights sleep and then moans about being tired!!
Still sore for me
somewhat restrictive if you intend on being out and about for more than a couple of hours
lots and lots of washing up

I know itsounds a bit negative and tbh I'm disappointed because if my supply was better I could do it 4-6 times a day and it would cover all his feeds whereas it feels like I'm on a treadmill and sliding off!

It's definitely worth a try and I highly recommend Ameda lactaline pump it's hospital grade and verrry quiet compared to medela ones I had..

Good luck x

I did - DS had a tongue tie that no-one believed me about so couldn't latch, had emcs, knackered,anaemic, started expressing at 4 days and did it til 8 months.

Took a week to be able to express enough for all his feeds but after that he didn't have any formula until I decided to give up - I was lucky and had a good supply; did all my expressing with a Tommee Tippee hand pump!

It wasn't too bad really, my life had changed so much with having him that it was just one more new thing to do along with all the other baby tasks.

I exclusively expressed for about 4months due to problems with latch. And then finally my DS decided he could do it himself direct and now won't take any type of bottle at all! Awkard boy!

To be honest, I found it really hard work, particularly once I got to know other mums and started getting out and about. I felt I always had to be getting home, ready to express the next feed. And I found it stressful as he got bigger and began to take more oz per feed.

But I am glad I did it, as I really wanted him to have the benefit of breastmilk, and now at 14months old, he is still feeding from me.

I used a medela swing initially, and then moved on to a medela double pump.

Good luck if this is what you decide to do.

So glad i found this. DD is 4 days old and as refused to latch the mw gave me option of ff or ebf so they could discharge us from hospital. So without really knowing what i was doing I opted to ebf with no understanding of how long I could do this for or what it entailed.
After reading this feel slightly more optimistic and informed and might treat myself to electric pump and give my wrists a rest from the manual pump now I know it can be sustained for longer than a week or two
Any tips would be appreciated

Hi Sam12,
I think you made a great decision (well, I would - it's the one I made) and I'll see if I can think of the things that have helped me most.
Firstly, do keep working on the latch if you want to, and if so you should ask the midwife to put you in touch with a breastfeeding counsellor to properly assess things e.g. check for tongue tie etc. Having done both now, feeding straight from the breast is easier for ME, but actually exclusively pumping is not a bad option and I found it had its advantages too. If you're not sure about things, NCT breastfeeding advice line is a great place to start 0300 330 0771
Re: expressing ...

1. Yes, get a double electric pump if this is the avenue you go down. My manual gave me repetitive strain injury, so don't risk this. Rent, if needed. Double pump cuts your expression time in half - if you get on well with the pump you can hold onto it, if not you can return it to the company. (You can convert a cheap sports bra into a hands-free pumping bra by cutting little slits - means you can mumsnet whilst expressing).
2. Keep pump parts in the fridge between expression sessions so you don't have to clean and sterilise as often.
3. Feed expressed milk in small amounts so you don't end up having to throw any out if it's not used (and honestly, unlike formula you don't have to throw it out within a tight window). Do read up on optimal storage of breastmilk i.e. put it in the coldest part of your fridge, do not shake it to mix the 'cream' in with the rest as this can break apart some of the molecules in the milk (gently swirl it instead). Kellymom is a font of very very useful information on this and more.
4. Do some breast massage as you express - using a pump means you're more vulnerable to blocked ducts, and systematic massage can help prevent these, as well as increasing the rate at which milk is expressed.
5. At the beginning, you need to express frequently which unfortunately also means at night. It doesn't need to be a long session each time though - even ten minutes is great. Power pumping can help build supply up (express for three minutes, off for two, express for another three minutes, off for two, back on for three). If you keep up expressing, then soon you'll be able to leave it longer.
6. If you are going to bottlefeed your milk, you may want to express directly into a sterilised feeding bottle so all you need to do is attach a teat then feed.
7. Don't be brought down by the people who tell you that it can't be kept up for long - as you've seen on this thread, it's absolutely possible to do it. Even if you keep it up for a day, a week, anything's great - feeding expressed milk involves lots of the inconvenience of bottle-feeding whilst demanding the extra physical endeavours of breastfeeding. However, it IS worth it - once you get into a routine of expressing it actually enables you to go out easily and leave a bottle with someone else, or even catch several hours of uninterrupted sleep whilst your other half does some feeding.

Anyhow, that's all I can think of but I know that kellymom is much more informative than I can be so I'll repost the link and wish you good luck. If you've got any questions, I'll keep checking this thread and see if I can help

sam I love my double rental pump so much, I can't quite bring myself to send it back now I only need it once/twice a day. I have a perfectly good manual and electric that will do the jo, but the rental is sooo much easier, much you can get nifty bras that let you do it hands free.

If you end up doing it full time, then since you're doing before 6 weeks (when oversupply typically stops) you should have a good head start.

Any kinds of lumps/tenderness etc. stop doing as much as you can, massage, bed, chocolate and stave it off before it turns into anything. Same if you start feeling like your coming down with a cold, achey (sp?) etc. as could be first signs of mastitis.

Frozen obviously has given excellent advice. Good luck in what ever you do.

I did it for 6 weeks for my dd who needed to be tube fed due to poor uncoordinated swallow. I really wasn't able to get much milk at all, despite frequent pumping, hospital pump etc. It was a v stressful time tho which prob had an impact

A friend however pumped for well over 2 years to feed her tube fed dc, also with lots of stress and dramas. She had successfully bf her older dc for a long time prior to this

I did for weeks when DS was in NICU, and it was fine for us. Lots of people told me it was mad to carry on and that I should go to complete BF when he came home, and although I did switch to both BF and bottle feeding with EBM, personally I found that expressing was easier than feeding apart from in the night. I had to setrilise but would have needed to do that anyway because of DS meds which needed mixing into milk, but also for us using a bottle of EBM abolished the cluster feeding at night (when DS had been home 3 weeks and I needed a warm evening meal). I also found that expressing helped with growth spurts as I have always been slightly ahead of DS needs and so while growth spurts were tiring I could respond by pumping for longer.

I did also donate a lot of milk to my local milk bank (particularly of the pre term milk from before DS was due) and there is nothing I have ever done which felt as good as that did. It was much easier than giving blood.

(Mind you the blood banks have told me to stop due to my dodgy veins)

If its what you want to do go for it.

Thanks to everyone for all your comments and help. Especially frozennorth. The link was really helpful.

Feeling much more positive about things now so much so bought myself an electric pump. I don't seem to have a problem with supply- in fact quite the opposite so far!

At a family party today I discovered my cousins wife is a bf counsellor and she has been to see me and was really positive about expressing but we also talked about trying to reestablish bf in a few weeks